• Created : 
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  • Category :  Agilent Knowledge Portal
  • Entry Type :  Article
  • Product Type :  GC Systems
  • Component :  GC System
  • Product Name :  6850 GC System 6890 GC System 7820 GC System 7890 GC System 8850 GC System 8860 GC System 8890 GC System Intuvo 9000 GC System
  • Task :  Best Practices Troubleshooting
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When to Replace the Gas Clean Carrier Gas Filter

Answer

This Information Applies To: Agilent GC Systems

Issue

The Agilent Gas Clean Carrier Gas Filter delivers faster stabilization times for increased GC productivity, removes oxygen, moisture, and hydrocarbons from the carrier gas for MS applications, and provides ultimate GC column protection. The filter must be replaced before it is consumed.

Background

As gas passes through the filter material, the filter picks up the impurities and eventually becomes saturated over time. When saturation occurs, an increased amount of impurities reaches the indicating material, which causes the material to change color from the top-down.

Resolution 

There are two ways to know when to replace carrier gas filter:

Indicating material color change

When 75% or more of the indicating material’s color has changed, the filter is consumed and must be replaced. See Figure 1. For general instructions on changing Gas Clean filters, see the Agilent Gas Clean Filter System User Manual. For 8890 GC systems with a filter sensor module installed, see this video for filter replacement instructions. 


Indicating material color change. 
Figure 1. Indicating material color change
1.Filter material, 2. Indicating material color change 3. Indicating material original color

Agilent recommends replacing the Gas Clean Carrier Gas Filter when 75% or more of the indicator’s color has changed (from the top down) or within one year of installation. See Figure 2 for a reference on color change.


Carrier Gas Clean Filter Color Indicator. 
Figure 2. Carrier Gas Clean Filter Color Indicator
1. Oxygen, green when original and grey when consumed, 2.Moisture, green when original and pale brown when consumed

  
Tips: If you are using the gas clean sensor, the sensor’s status indicator will turn yellow once the filter is consumed 

High Oxygen and H2O content in GC/MS tune reports

In this case, the user will observe high oxygen percentage (more than 1.5% oxygen) and high moisture content (more than 20% moisture) in Air and Water Check but the nitrogen level is low (less than 5% N2).

Before replacing the Gas Clean Carrier Gas Filter, discard other sources of oxygen and moisture. See the articles: Reviewing the Autotune Report for Agilent 5977 GC/MSD Systems in EI Mode, and How to Check the Air and Water Background in the Agilent 5975 and 5977 GC/MSD.

 

 
Learn how to effectively maintain your Agilent GC system: 
GC-0GEN-1001e - Gas Management Best Practices e-learning course available from Agilent education
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